All BMI 2008 Big Easy Music Award Winners

Entertainer of the Year
Terence Blanchard

Lifetime Achievement in Music
Eddie Bo

Ambassador of Music
Donald Harrison, Jr.

Best Blues Artist
Little Freddie King

Best Rhythm and Blues
Jon Cleary

Best Rap/Hip Hop
Lil' Wayne

Best Traditional Jazz
Tom McDermott & Evan Christopher

Best Contemporary Jazz Artist
Terence Blanchard

Best Traditional Brass Band
Treme Brass Band

Best Contemporary Brass Band
Soul Rebels

Best Roots Rock Band
Happy Talk Band

Best Rock Band
Rotary Downs

Best Funk Band
Galactic

Best Zydeco Artist
Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience

Best Mixed Bag
Bonerama

Best Female Performer
Irma Thomas

Best Emerging Artist
Shamarr Allen

Best Album
Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino
Tipitina's Foundation - Vanguard Records
Produced by Bill Taylor, Adam Shipley & Chris Finney

When pressed, Fats softly declares undying admiration for Presley. “I like Elvis myself,” Domino says over the phone from his New Orleans residence. “So does everybody.” With a humble air that warmly wraps around each of his concessions, Fats says he was simply “lucky” such songs as “I’m Walkin’” and “Blueberry Hill” allowed him to support his family.

The man’s authentic modesty is awe-inspiring, especially when Fats could argue he doesn’t get enough credit for creating the rock-&-roll sound. His induction into the 1986 inaugural Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class prompted more comparisons to the Memphis boy who would be king: The Hall notes that Fats Domino “sold more records (65 million) than any other Fifties-era rocker except Elvis Presley.”

In fact, any query about who “started” rock & roll could be answered by taking roll call of that class. In addition to Fats and Elvis, 1986 alumni include Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke and the Everly Brothers.

The man the musicians themselves look to as the architect of rock sounds is, perhaps, most telling. “Elvis called Fats the ‘King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.’ Bob Marley said reggae started with Fats Domino,” says r&b scholar Rick Coleman, author of the 2006 biography “Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

Evidence of his importance can be found on Vanguard Records’ new double-CD set, Goin’ Home: a Tribute to Fats Domino, which benefits Tipitina’s Foundation, a non-profit foundation dedicated to musical rebirth in the Crescent City.

On the tribute album, Paul McCartney sings “I Want to Walk You Home” and his Beatles mate John Lennon sings “Ain’t That a Shame.” The Fab Four’s 1968 “Lady Madonna” is homage to Domino. That same year, Fats cut his own version, marking his last appearance in the Billboard Top 100 pop singles.

Other iconic contributors to Goin’ Home include Elton John performing “Blueberry Hill,” B.B. King’s “Goin’ Home,” Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “I’m Walkin’,” Robert Plant’s “It Keeps Raining” and Willie Nelson’s “I Hear You Knockin’.”

The emotional peak comes with Neil Young’s “Walking to New Orleans,” which he sang at a Katrina fund-raising concert. Fats’s version, released June 1, 1960, was his last Top 10 pop hit. A potent string of wonder and musical history preceded that nostalgic song.

On Dec. 10, 1949, Fats Domino cut eight tracks at Cosimo Matassa’s J&M Studios. Among them: “The Fat Man,” often called “the first rock & roll song.”

Domino’s songbook also includes “All By Myself,” “Be My Guest,” “Bo Weevil,” “Don’t Blame It On Me,” “Every Night About This Time,” “Let the Four Winds Blow,” “Going to the River,” “My Girl Josephine,” “I’m in Love Again,” “Please Don’t Leave Me,” “Poor Me,” “So Long,” “Something’s Wrong,” “Three Nights a Week,” “Valley of Tears” and “Whole Lotta Loving.’’ In Fats’s fashion, the man is quick to share credit with co-writer and producer Dave Bartholomew.

While the music is universally present, Fats had settled in to a peaceful life with family and dear friends, flying contentedly below the world’s contemporary radar — until Katrina nearly killed him. The musician and his family chose to ride out the storm in their home in the Lower 9th Ward, the working-class neighborhood where he grew up. As helicopters plucked victims off roofs, there were media reports Fats was missing. That fear ended with the publication of a New Orleans Times-Picayune photo of Domino being helped off a boat after being rescued from his house.

Like almost everyone in the Lower 9th, he lost everything. But Fats says, “I ain’t missed nothing, to tell you the truth, and I was able to replace what I lost.” Today, he and his family live in a West Bank suburb, while their home is being rebuilt.

Thanks in large part to Tipitina’s Foundation, Fats Domino has become the quintessential face of New Orleans’ rebirth. The foundation is an offshoot of the New Orleans music venue. “Before the storm, our programs were designed to uplift the music culture of New Orleans,” says Bill Taylor, executive director. ”Since Katrina, it’s about saving that same culture.”

In May of 2007, Fats tore through an exhilarating 32-minute set at Tipitina’s. Proceeds benefited the foundation’s drive to provide musical instruments to New Orleans public schools, and to help musicians recover. Profits from the Goin’ Home tribute will also go to Tipitina’s Foundation. Twenty-five percent of monies earned at that red-letter show went toward the restoration of Fats’ Lower 9th home. In addition to helping Domino rebuild, funds will also fuel the construction of a Lower 9th community center and other programs aimed at lifting the neighborhood.

Haydee Ellis, the longtime family friend who helped orchestrate the concert and album, says her experiences recruiting talent for Goin’ Home demonstrate the appreciation artists have for Fats. “I talked to Randy Newman. . . . I said ‘we would enjoy your participation on this album’.” Newman, who performs “Blue Monday,” emphatically told her, “I’d love to. I’ve been stealing from Fats for years.”

Though this is his first release in a decade, Marsalis, who turns 42 this summer, has been a major multi-tasker on the jazz scene since the early ’80s. He’s toured with Jones, Art Blakey, Slide Hampton and Max Roach as well as Ray Charles and Fats Domino; produced nearly 80 sessions for contemporaries such as Nicholas Payton, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Courtney Pine, and Eric Reed, various family members and Harry Connick Jr.’s debut; studied at Berklee and the University of Louisville, which awarded him an MA in jazz performance, and composed for stage and screen productions as varied as the ABC mini-series Moon over Miami and the New Orleans Ballet adaptation of plays by Tennessee Williams.

As active as he is today, Marsalis misses the good old days. “If you look back at what these guys were trying to accomplish . . . it’s phenomenal to me, given where they started, which was basically learning jazz off of records,” explains Marsalis, who recalls a conversation with Terence Blanchard and Donald Harrison: “I told them, ‘Let’s get back to the ’80s.’ Not that I wanted guys to play that style of music again but to get back to that level of seriousness and intensity. The sad part is so much music happened in the ’80s that’s been overlooked.”

The inducted performers include:

• Dave Bartholomew: bandleader/songwriter/producer/arranger who helped to design the sound of New Orleans music; was instrumental in the career of Fats Domino; and wrote such hits as “Walking to New Orleans,” “Blue Monday” and “I Hear You Knockin’.”
• Dr. John: pianist/singer/songwriter; another of the key figures in New Orleans music and known as the Night Tripper; sideman on innumerable sessions and a preservationist of the magic of New Orleans.
• Eddie “Guitar Slim” Jones: vocalist/guitarist; one of the most flamboyant musicians in the blues and known best for his 1953 recording “The Things I Used To Do,” which featured Ray Charles on piano.

The non-performers include:

• Ahmet Ertegun: co-founder of Atlantic records and one of the most successful, influential, celebrated and respected executives in the history of the music business; fan, scholar and producer of the blues.

The classics of blues recordings, single or album track, include:

• Son House, “Death Letter”: Rediscovered in 1964, this delta blues legend released this stirring track on his comeback album, recorded at the age of 63.
• Freddie King, “Hide Away”: One of the most popular and frequently played instrumental in the blues repertoire, this tune, and the rest of King’s catalog, became a blueprint for countless guitarists to this day.
• Bobby “Blue” Bland, “I Pity the Fool”: This 1961 recording is one of Bland’s best and most frequently covered; its combination of searing vocal and stirring arrangement makes it unforgettable.

The classics of blues recording, album, include:

• Junior Parker, Driving Wheel: One of the best but often overlooked vocalists in the blues, Parker’s repertoire goes back to the early days of Sun Records; the title track of this album has appeared on the playlist of many, many blues musicians.

View a list of BMI inductees in the Blues Hall of Fame.

R.E.M.	Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five	Ahmet Ertegun

Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, who died Dec. 14, 2006, will also be honored. Ertegun was a crucial figure in the careers of artists such as Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and The Rolling Stones, and one of the leading figures in the creation of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

R.E.M. was the quintessential indie rock band until breaking through to mass success in the early 1990s with hits including ''Losing My Religion.''

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five led the most innovative act in hip-hop's formative era in the late 1970s, and the song ''The Message'' was like a letter from urban America. Grandmaster Flash was considered a pioneer in many DJ techniques.

Artists become eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first record. Criteria considered includes the influence and significance of the artist's contribution to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll. Past inductees include Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Cream, Bruce Springsteen and The Rolling Stones, among many others. All inductees are represented in the permanent exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, which contains the largest collection of rock and roll artifacts chronicling the history of popular music.

This year's selections include such renowned BMI songwriters and composers as Dave Brubeck (Time Out), B.B. King (Live at the Regal), Martha and the Vandellas ("Dancing in the Street"), Edwin Hawkins ("Oh Happy Day"), Sonic Youth (Daydream Nation) and Elliot Carter ("Variations for Orchestra").

The National Recording Preservation Board, comprising experts from the music industry and preservation field including BMI's David Sanjek, culled its list from nominations made by the public for recordings considered "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant." Recordings must be 10 years old to be considered for preservation and final selections are made by the Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington.

The National Recording Registry was created by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, legislation that promotes and supports audio preservation. The registry celebrates the richness and variety of the nation's audio legacy and underscores the responsibility to assure the long-term preservation of that legacy for future generations.

2005 National Recording Registry (in chronological order):

1. "Canzone del Porter" from "Martha (von Flotow)," Edouard de Reszke (1903)
2. "Listen to the Lambs," Hampton Quartette; transcribed by Natalie Curtis Burlin (1917)
3. "Over There," Nora Bayes (1917)
4. "Crazy Blues," Mamie Smith (1920)
5. "My Man" and "Second Hand Rose," Fanny Brice (1921)
6. "Ory's Creole Trombone," Kid Ory (June 1922)
7. Inauguration of Calvin Coolidge (March 4, 1925)
8. "Tanec pid werbamy/Dance Under the Willows," Pawlo Huemiuk (1926)
9. "Singin' the Blues," Frankie Trumbauer and his Orchestra with Bix Beiderbecke (1927)
10. First official transatlantic telephone conversation (Jan. 7, 1927)
11. "El Manisero" ("The Peanut Vendor"), Rita Montaner, vocal with orchestra (1927); "El Manisero," Don Azpiazu and his Havana Casino orchestra (1930)
12. Light's Golden Jubilee Celebration (Oct. 21, 1929)
13. Beethoven's Egmont Overture, Op. 84, Modesto High School Band (1930)
14. "Show Boat," Helen Morgan, Paul Robeson, James Melton and others; Victor Young, conductor; Louis Alter, piano (1932)
15. "Wabash Cannonball," Roy Acuff (1936)
16. "One O'Clock Jump," Count Basie and his Orchestra (1937)
17. Archibald MacLeish's "Fall of the City," Orson Welles, narrator, Burgess Meredith, Paul Stewart (April 11, 1937)
18. "The Adventures of Robin Hood" radio broadcast of May 11, 1938
19. Joe Louis-Max Schmeling fight, Clem McCarthy, announcer (June
22,1938)
20. "John the Revelator," Golden Gate Quartet (1938)
21. "Adagio for Strings," Arturo Toscanini, conductor; NBC Symphony (1938)
22. "Command Performance" show No.21, Bob Hope, master of ceremonies (July 7, 1942)
23. "Straighten Up and Fly Right," Nat "King" Cole (1943)
24. "The Fred Allen Show"(Radio broadcast of Oct. 7, 1945)
25. "Jole Blon," Harry Choates (1946)
26. "Tubby the Tuba," Paul Tripp (words) and George Kleinsinger (music) (1946)
27. "Move on up a Little Higher," Mahalia Jackson (1948)
28. "Anthology of American Folk Music," edited by Harry Smith (1952)
29. "Schooner Bradley," performed by Pat Bonner (1952-60)
30. "Damnation of Faust," Boston Symphony Orchestra with the Harvard Glee Club and Radcliffe Choral Society (1954)
31. "Blueberry Hill," Fats Domino (1956)
32. "Variations for Orchestra," Louisville Orchestra (1956)
33. "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," Jerry Lee Lewis (1957)
34. "That'll Be the Day," The Crickets (1957)
35. "Poeme Electronique," Edgard Varese (1958)
36. "Time Out," The Dave Brubeck Quartet (1959)
37. Studs Terkel interview with James Baldwin (Sept. 29, 1962)
38. William Faulkner address at West Point Military Academy (1962)
39. "Dancing in the Street," Martha and the Vandellas (1964)
40. "Live at the Regal," B.B. King (1965)
41. "Are You Experienced?" Jimi Hendrix Experience (1967)
42. "We're Only in It for the Money," Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (1968)
43. "Switched-On Bach," Wendy Carlos (1968)
44. "Oh Happy Day," Edwin Hawkins Singers (1969)
45. "Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers," Firesign Theatre (1970)
46. "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," Gil Scott-Heron (1970)
47. "Will the Circle Be Unbroken," The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (1972)
48. The old foghorn, Kewaunee, Wis., recorded by James A. Lipsky (1972)
49. "Songs in the Key of Life," Stevie Wonder (1976)
50. "Daydream Nation," Sonic Youth (1988)

Miles Davis	Lynyrd Skynyrd

Also honored was A&M Records co-founder and BMI songwriter Jerry Moss, who received a Lifetime Achievement Award in the non-performer category.

Formed in New York City, Blondie is one of the most successful rock and roll bands to emerge from the late 70s new wave scene. Fronted by Debbie Harry, Blondie's eclectic hit-making sound flirted with salsa, funk, disco, reggae and rap. Their 1979 breakthrough album, Parallel Lines, featured the #1 hit "Heart of Glass."

Blondie

Miles Davis was one of the 20th century's most creative artists, changing the sound of popular music many times in his six decade career. His musical experimentation beginning in the late 60s created a fusion of jazz with rock and roll, soul, funk and hip-hop. Davis died in 1991.

Lynyrd Skynyrd was one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed Southern rock groups of the 1970s. Their distinctive triple-lead guitar sound turned "Freebird" and "Sweet Home Alabama" into American anthems and staples of FM radio.

Jerry Moss co-founded A&M Records in Los Angeles in 1962. Starting with a few hundred dollars in pooled resources, he helped build one of the most successful independent records labels in the world. Artists that were signed to A&M include Procol Harum, Supertramp, Peter Frampton, Free, the Police, Joe Jackson, the Neville Brothers, Captain Beefheart, John Haitt, the Flying Burrito Brothers and Cat Stevens.

Artists become eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first record. Criteria considered includes the influence and significance of the artist's contribution to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll. Past inductees include Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Cream, Bruce Springsteen and The Rolling Stones, among many others. All inductees are represented in the permanent exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, which contains the largest collection of rock and roll artifacts chronicling the history of popular music.

BMI writers receive a 15% discount off the standard one-year membership fee of $50. Dues-paying members receive the following exclusive benefits:

• the opportunity to vote (with the exception of Associate Members) in SHOF's annual fall elections to determine who will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame the following spring
• the chance to participate in members-only showcase and workshop programs
• a subscription to "Words About Music," the newsletter of SHOF/NAPM
• quarterly NAPM events fliers with information about networking meetings and open mics
• an invitation to the annual SHOF Awards Dinner held each year.

To be entered in the drawing, sign up for membership now through the "Platinum Privileges" zone in the online services area.

BMI has played a vital role in the development and growth of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the list of BMI songwriting greats honored by the organization includes Chuck Berry, Dave Bartholomew, Fats Domino, Felice & Boudleaux Bryant, Pete Seeger, Carole King, Sting (PRS), Barry Manilow, Queen, Ray Charles, Willie Nelson, Emilio & Gloria Estefan, Eric Clapton (PRS), Paul Simon, Brian Wilson, Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff, Holland-Dozier-Holland and Barry, Maurice & Robin Gibb.

The National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The NAPM/SHOF is also devoted to the development of new songwriting talent through workshops, showcases and scholarships.

Now, with the release of his new CD, Connick triumphantly returns to the impressionistic big band approach that thrust him to stardom. Employing the same strategy that made When Harry Met Sally a crossover hit, Only You features Connick giving the torch treatment to ’50s and ’60s pop nuggets like Stevie Wonder’s “For Once in My Life,” The Drifters’ “Save the Last Dance For Me” and Fats Domino’s “My Blue Heaven.” Rounding out this languid collection is “Other Hours,” a Connick original that more than holds its own among the featured classics.

Fans welcomed Only You like manna from heaven, as the disc rocketed into the Top 20 soon after its release. And thanks to a new DVD video entitled Only You In Concert, Connick fans can view their hero performing his new songs from the comfort of their homes.

It seems only fitting that Connick would resuscitate America’s elegant, post-Depression sounds. Like Frank Sinatra and the big band icons of yore, Connick is a rakish renaissance man with a vaudevillian soul. Though best known for his vintage pop recordings, he is also an acclaimed jazz pianist whose off-kilter style has earned favorable comparisons to Thelonious Monk.

Given the platinum success of When Harry Met Sally , some critics predicted Connick would make a career of milking the big band cash cow. But during the ’90s, the multi-talented singer threw curve after curve, revealing his fearlessness, musical curiosity and broad artistic scope. His albums ranged from original instrumental and vocal recordings (“Lofty’s Roach Soufflé,” “We Are in Love,” respectively), to rumpshaking funk excursions (“She,” “Star Turtle”) and starry-eyed balladry (“To See You”). As the ’90s morphed into a new millennium, Connick combined all his influences on his decade-ending magnum opus, Come by Me .

Recent years have seen additional triumphs, including his Grammy-winning Songs I Heard, and a recent jazz quartet collection, Other Hours . The latter disc is the first of a Connick on Piano series to be released by Marsalis Music. It contains instrumental versions of the Tony Award-nominated songs Connick composed for the Broadway musical Thou Shalt Not .

All told, Connick has sold over 20 million records worldwide and won three Grammy Awards, an undeniable testament to his musicianship and creative integrity.

But music only partly explains Connick’s appeal. Like his “Rat Pack” forebears, Connick has also exerted a considerable influence on the worlds of television and feature film. His Hollywood credits include Memphis Belle, Hope Floats and Independence Day , while his TV appearances include the ABC production of South Pacific and a recurring role on the NBC hit series, Will & Grace .

Add to these achievements nominations for Tony Awards, Emmy, Oscar, Golden Globe and Cable Ace Awards, and you get a clearer sense of Connick’s drive.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Connick studied piano with jazz legends Ellis Marsalis and James Booker. Commencing his career at age 5, he cut his first jazz album at 10. At the still-tender age of 18, he moved to New York and recorded his self-titled Columbia Records debut. On his sophomore effort, 20 , Connick introduced the smoky jazz arrangements and lilting vocals that would become his trademark, an approach he refined on his multi-platinum disc, When Harry Met Sally .

Connick once again applied his formidable skills during a series of 2003 sessions at Hollywood’s legendary Capitol Studios. The result was not one, but two CDs — Only You and the Christmas-time collection, Harry for the Holidays . Recording on the piano once played by Nat “King” Cole, Connick guided the members of his working big band — augmented in some instances by a full string orchestra — through two different programs.

“It’s all music, and a matter of subtly switching gears,” Connick said, explaining the challenge of recording two distinctly different CDs.

BMI winners took home an impressive 96% of the awards, including Charlie Musselwhite as Contemporary Male Artist of the Year and Blues Instrumentalist (harmonica), and Solomon Burke as Soul Male Artist of the Year and for Soul Blues Album of the Year (Don't Give Up On Me). Legendary BMI blues man B.B. King repeated as Blues Entertainer of the Year and longtime Chicago favorite Magic Slim & the Teardrops earned Blues Band of Year accolades.

For over two decades, the Handy Awards have celebrated excellence in performance and recording of the blues and is the highest honor bestowed upon artists in the blues industry. The United States Senate passed a resolution last winter declaring 2003 the Year of the Blues in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of when W. C. Handy first heard the blues in a train depot in Mississippi. The year will be marked by numerous events and projects celebrating the blues, including last February's star-studded concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York and the debut in September of a seven-part documentary series on PBS entitled "The Blues," executive produced by Martin Scorsese and featuring segments directed by Clint Eastwood and Wim Wenders. Named for the "Father of the Blues," the W.C. Handy Blues Awards are produced by the Memphis-based Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization established to "preserve, celebrate and support" the blues.

The awards ceremony is the traditional opener to the Handy Weekend, a series of events for blues musicians, industry members, and fans. Handy Weekend events include a Blues Symposium with workshops, the Handy Awards Music Festival, a blues film fest, the Handy Awards Children's Festival and the annual induction of the Blues Hall of Fame. This year's inductees included Fats Domino, Dinah Washington, Handy winner Pinetop Perkins and Sippie Wallace, whose "Women Be Wise" was made popular by Bonnie Raitt. To date, 96% of the performers in the Blues Hall of Fame are BMI songwriters.]]> 2003-05-22T18:00:00-05:00